For reference, <a href="http://www.fgdc.gov/library/factsheets/documents/datashare.pdf">http://www.fgdc.gov/library/factsheets/documents/datashare.pdf</a><br>There are exceptions, but from what I have seen this policy seems to be the basis of the government opening up GIS data.<br>
<br>Dale<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 3:02 PM, Dale Puch <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:dale.puch@gmail.com">dale.puch@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
It will probably take some digging to find out the full story, and it will probably differ from state to state. But it seems that around 1995-2005 time range federal, state and local governments started to share GIS data. As they did this they also changed their copyright and access policies due to the sharing.<br>
<br>To make matters worse, very few clearly state any copyright or restrictions, even though there is a specific field in the meta-data.<br><br>While I do not know for sure, my guess is that the original map was indeed copyrighted, but at a later date the map, or data was shared with other agencies and the result was no longer copyrighted. <br>
<br>It would be really nice to have the copyright/usability status of various data sets published by the various agencies.<br><font color="#888888"><br>Dale</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 7:18 AM, Nathan Edgars II <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:neroute2@gmail.com" target="_blank">neroute2@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">First, I'm not trying to start an argument or even a civilized<br>
discussion about our policies in this matter. I just found this<br>
interesting.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1196597" target="_blank">http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1196597</a><br>
is "Rosslyn Station", a former railway station in Pennsylvania. The<br>
source cited for the feature is a map created by the Pennsylvania<br>
Department of Transportation:<br>
<a href="ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_PDF_FILES/Maps/Type_10_GHS_Historical_Scans/Allegheny_1976_Sheet_1.pdf" target="_blank">ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_PDF_FILES/Maps/Type_10_GHS_Historical_Scans/Allegheny_1976_Sheet_1.pdf</a><br>
This map, from which USGS got the name and location, is labeled<br>
"Copyright 1977 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania". (Yes, our GNIS import<br>
includes this feature.) The USGS doesn't seem to consider this<br>
information copyrightable:<br>
<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/usgs-manual/1100/1100-6.html" target="_blank">http://www.usgs.gov/usgs-manual/1100/1100-6.html</a> prescribes a notice<br>
to appear "when copyrighted materials are used in an information<br>
product", which I don't see with the GNIS, and<br>
<a href="http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/metadata.htm#getacopy.0" target="_blank">http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/metadata.htm#getacopy.0</a> says that<br>
there are no access or use constraints.<br>
<br>
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</blockquote></div>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Dale Puch<br>